CARR'S LEAP OF FAITH IN DRUGS FIGHT

New South Wales could be on the verge of introducing the nation's most
liberal drug laws after the personal conversion of the state's Premier, Mr
Bob Carr.

Mr Carr was a surprise supporter of a proposal at the NSW drugs summit to
introduce safe heroin injecting rooms. He said this was the hardest decision
he had made at the summit, where his previously hard-line views were changed
by speakers such as the police royal commissioner, Justice James Wood.

He restated his repugnance of heroin yesterday, but said he now understood
that "life is an inherently disappointing experience for most human beings.
Some people can't cope with that".

He said he accepted the "propensity of human beings to compensate for the
mediocrity of existence with drugs".

The NSW Government has six weeks to respond to the summit's 168
recommendations. As well as safe injecting rooms, they include removing jail
terms for possession of small amounts of cannabis, allowing drug users to
shoot up illegally and cautioning young offenders for minor offences.

Mr Carr emphasised that his Government was not going soft on drugs. "I will
not accept the normalisation of heroin in our society," he said. He said no
proposal would be adopted unless it could be shown it would make life easier
for families confronting the drug problem.

The Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, took a cautious approach to the
proposals, pointing out that liberalisation helped turn the Netherlands into
the drug capital of Europe. "You have to keep asking yourself, do all of
these things encourage addicts to give up and save lives and I'm not
convinced that they will," he said.

The NSW Opposition Leader, Mrs Kerry Chikarovski, rejected the proposals,
saying "they would increase the number of young people using drugs."

The Prime Minister's drugs adviser, Mr Brian Watters, described the summit's
culmination as the saddest night of his life.

But the Reverend Ray Richmond from the Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross
welcomed the recommendations and said the so-called tolerance room would now
not need to be reopened.

"I think now NSW is in a position to lead the whole of Australia and I think
the whole world is watching," Mr Richmond said.

"I am greatly indebted to Bob Carr for this rather dangerous move of having
an open-ended drug summit and I think most people are really delighted with
the outcomes. The hard work is yet ahead."

He said he could think of five communities that would benefit from a safe
injecting room, including Kings Cross and Redfern and Nimbin on the state's
north coast.

The Victorian Premier, Mr Jeff Kennett, said he was aware of the resolution
that had been passed at the summit, and felt it was an extension of the
advisory council, chaired by Professor DavidPenington, that Mr Kennett had
established several years ago.

He said he had sent a staff member to the summit and expected a report.

There may be discussions between the Victorian and New South Wales
Governments, Mr Kennett suggested, but said he would watch to see whether
the Carr Government accepted any of the recommendations.